White House denounces Egypt crackdown, but little action seen

posted by Olivier Knox, Yahoo! News
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3 years ago

The White House Wednesday angrily denounced a bloody crackdown in Egypt that has left at least 149 people dead in clashes between protesters and security forces. But it was not clear what — if any — concrete response to the violence would come from Washington.

“The United States strongly condemns the use of violence against protestors in Egypt,” spokesman Josh Earnest said in a statement to reporters who followed President Barack Obama to Martha’s Vineyard on his vacation.

“Violence will only make it more difficult to move Egypt forward on a path to lasting stability and democracy and runs directly counter to the pledges by the interim government to pursue reconciliation,” he warned. “The world is watching what is happening in Cairo.”

“We also strongly oppose a return to a state of emergency law and call on the government to respect basic human rights, such as peaceful assembly and due process under the law,” Earnest warned.

Earnest declined to say whether the U.S. had been caught by surprise by the overnight massacre of demonstrators. Nor would he say whether specific top U.S. officials had reached out by telephone to their Egyptian counterparts.

Earnest repeated longstanding warnings that the U.S. is constantly reviewing its commitment of $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt’s military. But he reiterated that Washington would still not label the ouster of the democratically elected president a coup, which would force the administration to freeze that assistance.

What if no such proof is forthcoming, a reporter asked? Then the United States will … publicly call for it again, the spokesman replied.

Earnest said he was not issuing an ultimatum, insisting that “we can work with our allies and others to put pressure on the interim government to make good on these commitments that they’ve made. We’ll continue to urge them.”

Asked why he thought more rhetoric would change the government’s behavior, Earnest replied: “I think when they sit around the table and they see their friends all around the world urging them to make good on their promise, I think that makes them more likely to make good on their promise.”

But, he said, “I guess this is the ultimate conclusion here: This is something that Egyptians are going to have to resolve.”

Earnest said the president had received a briefing on the situation from National Security Adviser Susan Rice and would continue to monitor events.

Separately, the White House said World Bank President Jim Kim, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, and former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk had joined Obama for a round of golf.

Earnest said Obama could stay on top of the situation while on vacation.

“The president is being kept apprised of the developments and will be briefed as necessary,” the spokesman said.

“He’s already been briefed this morning by his national security adviser, and he’s asked his team to keep him advised as developments warrant. And I anticipate that he will do that over the course of the rest of the day — and probably the rest of the trip,” he said.